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T A M A R IN D .—The Tamarindus Indica is in Ceylon dedicated
to Siva, as the god of destrudtion. The natives of India, have a
prejudice against sleeping under the Tamarind, and the acid damp
from the tree is known to affecfl the cloth of tents that are pitched
under them for any length of time. So strong is the prejudice of the
natives against the Tamarind-tree, that it is difficult to prevent
them from destroying it, as they believe it hurtful to vegetation. It is
chiefly cultivated for its seed-pods, which are used medicinally, and
for food. Dreams connecited with Tamarinds are of ill omen,
portending trouble, loss, and disappointment. The Tamarind is
held to be under the dominion of Venus.
T A M A R I S K .—The Tamarix orientalis is also known as the
Tamarisk of Osiris. The ancient Eyptians believed that at the
commencement of the world Osiris was born from the midst of chaos,
from whence also proceeded his wife Isis, the Queen of Light,
and Typhon, the Spirit of Darkness. Osiris was the ruler of all
the earth ; but Typhon, being jealous of him, seized him by strategy,
nailed him in a chest, and cast it into the Nile, that it might float
out to sea. Isis in despair wandered all over the country, searching
for the dead body of her husband, and at length heard that the
chest had been cast on shore at Byblos, and had there lodged in
the branches of a Tamarisk-bush, which quickly shot up and became
a large and beautiful tree, growing round the chest so that it
could not be seen. The king of the country, amazed at the vast
size of the Tamarisk-tree, ordered it to be cut down and hewn into
a pillar to support the roof of his palace, the chest being still concealed
in the trunk. Here it was discovered by Isis, who cut
open the pillar, and took the coffin with her to Egypt, where she
hid it in a remote place ; but Typhon found it, and divided the
corpse of Osiris into fourteen pieces. After a long and weary
search, in which Isis sailed over the fenny parts of the land in a boat
made of Papyrus, she recovered all the fragments except one,
which had been thrown into the sea,------The Tamarix Gallica is called
the Tamarisk of Apollo : the Apollo of Lesbos is represented with
a branch of Tamarisk in his hand. Nicander called the Tamarisk the
Tree of Prophecy. In Persia, the Magian priests (who claimed supernatural
power) arrived at a knowledge of future events by means
of certain manipulations of the mystic haresma, or bundle of thin
Tamarisk twigs, the employment of which was enjoined in the
Zendavesta books as essential to every sacrifical ceremony.-----
Herodotus informs us that the Tamarisk was employed for a
similar purpose by other nations of antiquity ; and Pliny states
that the Egyptian priests were crowned with its foliage. According
to tradition, it was from Tamarisk-trees that the showers of
Manna descended on the famishing Israelites in the desert. At
the present day, the Manna of Mount Sinai is produced by a variety
of Tamarix Gallica: it consists of pure mucilaginous sugar.------
Astrologers state that the Tamarisk is under the rule of Saturn.
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T A N S Y .—The herb Tansy {Tanacetum) has derived its name
from the Greek athanasia, immortality, it being supposed that this
herb was referred to in a passage in Lucian’s Dialogues of the
Gods, where Jupiter, ■ speaking of Ganymede, says to Mercury,
“ Take him away, and when he has drunk of immortality
'athanasia], bring him back as cup-bearer to us.” In the Catholic
Church the herb is dedicated to St. Athanasius, and in Lent cakes
are flavoured with it. Gerarde says that the name athanasia was
given to the plant because the flowers do not speedily wither :
he also tells us that “ in the Spring time are made with the
leaves hereof newly sprung up, and with egs, cakes or tansies,
which be pleasant on taste, and good for the stomacke.” ------
In some country places, it is customary to eat Tansy pudding
at Easter, in allusion to the “ bitter herbs ” at the Passover. In
Sussex, a charm against ague is to wear Tansy leaves in the shoe.
In some parts of Italy, people present stalks of the Wild
Tansy to those whom they mean to insult. The Tansy is held
to be a herb of Venus.
T E A .—A Japanese Buddhist legend attributes the origin of
the Tea-plant {Thea Sinensis) to the eyelids of a devotee, which fell
to the ground and took root. The legend relates that about
A.D. 519 a Buddhist priest went to China; and, in order to dedicate
his soul entirely to God, he made a vow to pass the day and night
in an uninterrupted and unbroken meditation. After many years
of such continual watching, he was at length so tired, that he fell
asleep. On awaking the following morning, he was so grieved
that he had broken his vow, that he cut off both his eyelids and
threw them on the ground. Returning to the same spot on the
following day, he was astonished to find that each eyelid had
become a shrub. This was the Tea-shrub (until then unknown in
China)—the leaves of which exhibit the form of an eyelid bordered
with lashes, and possess the gift of hindering sleep. One Ibn
Wahab, who travelled in China some time in the ninth century,
makes the first authentic mention of Tea as a favourite beverage
of the Chinese. He describes it as the leaf of a shrub more bushy
than the Pomegranate; and says that an infusion is made by
pouring boiling water upon it.
T E R E B IN T H .—The Terebinth {Pistacia TereUnthus) is a
tree much venerated by the Jews. Abraham pitched his tent
beneath the shade of a Terebinth at Mamre, in the valley of
Hebron, and an altar was afterwards erecfled close by. The spot
whereon the tree of Abraham had flourished was in the time of
Eusebius still held in great reverence and saniflity, and a Christian
church was erecited there. Josephus, in his ‘ History of the Jews,’
recounts that the Terebinth of Abraham had flourished ever since
the creation of the world; but a second legend states that it sprang
from the staff of one the angels who visited Abraham. At Sichem
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